Nov 4, 2012 (Sunday)

245 when woke up / 242 after run.

Ran 17.6 miles today – 3 hrs 27.5 minutes – at 16 miles was 3 hrs and 3 minutes – for the half marathon distance it was 2 hrs 25 minutes (approx) – 11 miles was 2 hrs 1 min. For the 8.8 mile point I was at 1 hr 33 minutes which was 3-4 minutes faster than the 8.8 from yesterday (probably pushing too hard) – I used up that time savings refilling my water from the van and loading my pockets with chocolates and eating a banana.

Early miles were decently quick for slippery conditions – 5.7 mph first hour – average was approx 5.5 for 2 hours. Got slow after the half marathon point – I started to run out of water and juice and any kind of fuel. I still need to sort out better fueling along the run and before it. I can do the med runs with a banana and some almonds but it definitely isn’t enough for the longer runs. I need to get carbs first thing before the run and then fuel better along the way.

The run/walk cycling seems to have helped – definitely got me faster along the first couple hours – if it can be maintained it can get me more speed overall. Seems to be helping the knee too – it feels good today after the run. My inner thighs are another thing though – apparently the running underwear rode up during the run and I have some pretty bad chafing – I threw out the underwear so I don’t make that mistake again. ouch

All in all things felt good up until about the half marathon point – after that I really had to push to get to the 16 mile point and to finish the run. I was running out of water and was rationing it which didn’t help things near the end – ran out shortly after beginning the final lap but luckily there is a water fountain in the picnic building right by the duck pond. By the time I realized that it was pretty much too late – I was able to finish because of it but it was definitely too late.

It was near freezing for the run but with the layers I was wearing I did sweat and get fairly wet – later in the run the wind picked up a bit and I was extremely chilled by the end – my toque was soaked as were my gloves and I had spares in the van and should have used them. This will be something to watch on later long runs when it gets colder out.

Between the cold, the lack of fuel and the lack of water I definitely had issues pushing near the end – I have to work on all 3 as I work on increasing my endurance. I also need to be careful about pushing too hard too early on the longer runs – it is the overall time that matters not making each lap faster than the last run.

After the run I had a hot shower and ate a quick breakfast (2 pieces rye toast with margarine and peanut butter, a glass of milk and some coke) before laying down for just over an hour. It took a fair bit of the nap before I felt warm again. I felt a bit drained the rest of the day until probably around supper time. Between the time change and the long run and cold a longer rest was probably necessary to restore my energy. Tomorrow should be interesting to see where I’m in pain.

7 weeks to go for longer training before getting into the tapering – what should be my goals be? How best to move forward and get faster?

I see a few things:

• Continue interval training for the medium and longer runs
• Continue straight runs for shorter runs to keep building endurance and speed
• Work on fuelling better before the weekend runs
• Work toward increasing the run portions of the run / walk cycles?
• Ensure bring more water on the long run days
• Bring extra dry clothes for staying warm and dry on the longer runs – will definitely help for the runs near 20 miles
• Continue motivating and pushing hard during the week
• Try to get the 17.6 mile section down to 3 hours – this would equate to about a 4.5 hour marathon. This is going to take speed training and building of endurance
• Lose more weight – coming down another 20 pounds from 245 of this morning would be huge – but 230 would be very useful as well. This weight loss would be huge for increasing the speed in the point above. Goal would be around 236/237 by end of November and then 230 just before Christmas – any extra weight loss would be useful. Don’t expect or even want weight loss in the tapering weeks as want to make sure that muscles are well fueled prior to the runs.